It is found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests of Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru.

The bill is blackish, the irises brown and the legs grey, and the long feathers on the back of the head form a pronounced crest, reddish-brown in the male and brownish-black in the female.

Other than this, the sexes are very similar in appearance; the front of the crown is dark brown and the rest of the head, neck, throat and mantle is grey.

The general colour of the upper parts is olive-brown, marked with darker vermiculations, paler on the rump and darker on the wings and scapulars, with large black markings on the flight feathers and pale speckling on the wing coverts.

The birds form coveys of five to eight and cross open ground in single file, keeping close to dense cover into which they can run if disturbed.